Netflix Overview

Netflix is an online streaming service. What this means is, that in order to get and use Netflix, you must have access to the internet. This means you need an internet connection and either a computer, an internet connected television, there are some gaming consoles you can use, or even a smart phone or a tablet with an internet connection. It’s a very simple matter of going to their website and setting up an account. This does require a credit card. It costs between $7.99 to $11.99 USD, for the streaming service, depending on how many different screens you want to be able to watch on at the same time. Once that’s done, you have access to all of the television shows, movies and specials that the service has to offer.Once you have your account set up, it’s a simple matter of logging into Netflix, on whichever platform you choose, and finding what you want to watch. Netflix has a wide variety of TV shows, movies and specials. Your choices for television shows range from all five seasons of the black and white comedy classic “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” which ran from 1961 to 1966 to that late eighties, early nineties sitcom about growing up in the sixties, “The Wonder Years” to all nine seasons of the hit show that ran from 2005 to 2014, “How I met your mother.” Also available are all six “Star Trek” shows, from the original, starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, to the so-so prequel “Enterprise,” starring Scott Bakula. Then there are shows like the show about three witch sisters, “Charmed”. The show about a guy who can build a bomb from household products, “Macgyver,” as well as the hit show “NCIS.” New shows like “Quantico,” “Frequency”, “Burn Notice” and “Leverage” are also available. And Netflix’s selection of TV shows isn’t limited to American TV. They carry great British-made shows like “Doctor Who” and “Doc Martin.” And now Netflix is making their own shows. Great shows like “Grace and Frankie,” the Academy Award winning show “Stranger Things” and the Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant comedy about being a zombie in suburbia “Santa Clarita Diet.” Then there are the movies, classic movies like the great Hepburn/Tracey workplace comedy, “Desk Set.” The great war movie starring Robert Mitchum, “Heaven Knows, Mr. Alison,” the Paul Newman classic “The Hustler” and that great Christmas musical starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, “White Christmas.” And Netflix isn’t limited to just older movies, they have “Captain America: Civil War” “Zootopia” and Disney’s new version of “Pete’s Dragon.” And dramas like “Forrest Gump,” “Twilight” and “Magic Mike.” There is never a shortage of something to watch and there is always something for everyone in the family. Netflix doesn’t just have TV shows and movies, they have comedy specials from the likes of Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Amy Schumer and Ali Wong to music specials with Frank Sinatra, Justin Timberlake and Justin Bieber. Then there are the documentaries. Shows that can both educate and entertain. Shows about nature like “Wild Alaska” and “Madagascar,” the real island, not the animated one. There is the prolific documentarian, Ken Burns, his shows about “The West” “The Civil War” and “The Roosevelts” are all available right now on Netflix. As I’ve tried to show here, Netflix offers a wide variety of movies, TV shows and specials. Netflix also offers convenience and works on streaming devices like Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire. They allow each member of the family to build their own profile. So you never have to go digging through your son’s list of rap specials in order to find your favorite TV show. They allow you to make your own list of movies, TV shows and specials that you want to watch and the selection is always changing. New things arrive as older shows and movies leave, but usually return And, what’s really great, something a lot of people forget when they talk about Netflix. Although it is being phased out, Netflix does still provide DVD or Blu-Ray’s through their mail service. And these would be almost any movie or TV show, even if it isn’t offered on Netflix streaming. Netflix has become such a “thing,” it now has it’s own meme. “Let’s Netflix and chill.” In other words, just stay home, find something good on Netflix, because there’s always something good on Netflix, and just kick back in your own home, in your pajamas and relax.